All posts by Robert M Ellis

About Robert M Ellis

Robert M Ellis is the founder of the Middle Way Society, and author of a number of books on Middle Way Philosophy, including the introductory 'Migglism' and the new Middle Way Philosophy series published by Equinox. A former teacher, he now runs a retreat centre in Wales, Tirylan House, and is in the process of creating a forest garden there.

Network Stimulus Ethics 5: Provisional Rules

Ethics, Middle Way Philosophy, Network Stimulus

The next main meeting of the Middle Way Network will be at 7pm UK time on Sun 3rd Jan 2021. This will be the fifth of our series of talks and discussions on ethics, and the last of three sessions where we will be looking at the three classic approaches to morality in turn: virtue ethics, ethics seeking good consequences, and principle-based ethics. We will be asking what a Middle Way approach implies for what we consider to be ‘good’: is it becoming a better person, fulfilling good goals, or obeying the right principles? Or is it all of these? If so, how do we fit them together when they sometimes contradict each other?

Following principles or rules is the traditional way that many people think about ethics. But where do we get the rules from and how do we know if we have the right ones? The Middle Way approach suggests that we should never take a rule absolutely. Often absolute rules create unnecessary conflict and rigidity. But that need not prevent us from developing provisional rules that we can justify from experience. In this session we’ll be exploring the ways that principles or precepts can be useful for individual practice, and how provisional rules are also necessary in society.

There’ll be a short talk on this topic, followed by questions, then discussion in regionalised breakout groups. Some other regionalised groups will meet at other times. If you’re interested in joining us but are not already part of the Network, please see the general Network page to sign up. To catch up on the previous session, on consequential ethics, please see this post. If you would like catch up more with basic aspects of the Middle Way approach, we are also holding a reading group (next on 10th Jan) which will do this – please contact Jim (at) middlewaysociety.org if you want to join this.

Here is the actual video from this session:

Suggested reflection questions

  1. What’s the history of your attitude to rules? Are you a rule-follower or a rule-breaker? How well do you think this has served you?
  2. Have you practised (or would you like to practise) any provisional rules or precepts? What issues do you think their provisionality might raise?
  3. What advantages do you think there are in a deontological (i.e. principle-based) way of thinking about ethics, by comparison with thinking in terms of consequences or virtues? How far might it be helpful for you?

Suggested further reading

Middle Way Philosophy 1: The Path of Objectivity 7.i (see pdf of Omnibus edition on Researchgate)

Truth on the Edge section 6

Network Stimulus: Ethics 4 – Adapting our Goals

Ethics, Health and well-being, Middle Way Philosophy

The next main meeting of the Middle Way Network will be at 7pm UK time on Sun 20th Dec 2020. This will be the fourth of our series of talks and discussions on ethics. This is the middle of three sessions where we will be looking at the three classic approaches to morality in turn: virtue ethics, ethics seeking good consequences, and principle-based ethics. We will be asking what a Middle Way approach implies for what we consider to be ‘good’: is it becoming a better person, fulfilling good goals, or obeying the right principles? Or is it all of these? If so, how do we fit them together when they sometimes contradict each other?

The consequential way of thinking about ethics tries to help us make better judgements by thinking carefully about what would lead to better consequences, and making these our goals. This is the basis of utilitarianism, which is often the default way of making public decisions on contested issues in the modern world. Thinking rigorously about consequences based on evidence is often a good way of making us face up to conditions: for example, thinking about the pros and cons of vaccination in a way that weighs up the balance of evidence of its consequences . However, for individual judgements, what this approach often fails to take into account is that our goals are not fixed, and they are based on imperfect and changing information. Nor is it always clear what goals are the right ones. Other ways of thinking about ethics (using virtues or principles) may help us to adapt our goals by thinking about them in a different frame.

There’ll be a short talk on this topic, followed by questions, then discussion in regionalised breakout groups. Some other regionalised groups will meet at other times. If you’re interested in joining us but are not already part of the Network, please see the general Network page to sign up. To catch up on the previous session, on virtue, please see this post. If you would like catch up more with more basic aspects of the Middle Way approach, we are also holding a reading group (next on 10th Jan) which will do this – please contact Jim (at) middlewaysociety.org if you want to join this.

Here is the video from the session:

Suggested reflection questions

  1. How much do you carefully consider the weight of evidence about the outcomes of each course of action when making moral judgements, particularly on socio-political issues? Think about an example of an issue where you have changed your view, and what determined the change.
  2. Do you think we should make individual decisions (e.g. about starting or ending a relationship) in the same sort of ways we should weigh up public issues (e.g. covid vaccination)? If there’s a difference, what is it?
  3. How do you tend to decide what are the right goals to pursue? For example, if you consider a project you’ve given priority to and put energy into, what was your justification for thinking it was important and should take priority?

Suggested further reading/ listening

Middle Way Philosophy 1: The Path of Objectivity 7.h (see pdf of Omnibus edition on Researchgate)

‘Value Judgements’ talk and discussion from Summer Retreat 2014

A New Buddhist Ethics (despite the title, this book, written in 2008, is more about issues of practical ethical judgement using the Middle Way than it is about Buddhist ethics as traditionally understood)

Blog: John Stuart Mill

Network Stimulus: Ethics 3 – Cultivating Virtue

Ethics, Middle Way Philosophy, Network Stimulus

The next main meeting of the Middle Way Network will be at 7pm UK time on Sun 6th Dec 2020. This will be the third of our series of talks and discussions on ethics. In this and the following two sessions we will be looking at the three classic approaches to morality in turn: virtue ethics, ethics seeking good consequences, and principle-based ethics. We will be asking what a Middle Way approach implies for what we consider to be ‘good’: is it becoming a better person, fulfilling good goals, or obeying the right principles? Or is it all of these? If so, how do we fit them together when they sometimes contradict each other?

Virtue ethics, as the focus of this first session, is the approach to ethics that starts with the idea that we should become better (more virtuous) people. A ‘virtue’ is basically a good habit, and the idea of a practice, such as mindfulness, seems to be very much about cultivating good habits. However, we need to think about what makes a habit ‘good’, and the problem is that different groups have different assumptions about that ‘good’. Integration will be suggested as the key idea that can help us decide what is a virtuous habit for us on our specific path. However, developing good habits also doesn’t automatically make our decisions right, and virtue ethics still leaves us needing to make judgements about what to do in specific situations.

‘Allegory of Human Life’ by Cagnacci

There’ll be a short talk on this topic, followed by questions, then discussion in regionalised breakout groups. Some other regionalised groups will meet at other times. If you’re interested in joining us but are not already part of the Network, please see the general Network page to sign up. To catch up on the previous session, on evil, please see this post. If you would like catch up more with more basic aspects of the Middle Way approach, we are also holding a reading group (next on 13th Dec) which will do this – please contact Jim (at) middlewaysociety.org if you want to join this.

Here is the video from the session:

Suggested reflection questions

  1. What virtues do you most value and most want to cultivate?
  2. Are there any tensions between cultivating those virtues and other needs or goals in your life? How do you think you can use the Middle Way to help resolve these?

Suggested further reading

Middle Way Philosophy 1: The Path of Objectivity 7.e (see pdf of Omnibus edition on Researchgate)

The Buddha’s Middle Way section 5 (‘Interpreting the Eightfold Path’)

Blog post on Aristotle

Alasdair MacIntyre After Virtue (pp.186-203 is the interesting bit!)

Network Stimulus: Ethics 2 – A view of evil

Ethics, Middle Way Philosophy

The next main meeting of the Middle Way Network will be at 7pm UK time on Sun 22nd Nov 2020. This will be the second of our series of talks and discussions on ethics, and is on the topic of evil. Evil needs to be acknowledged as an important aspect of human experience, rooted in our sense of threats and need for security from danger. Our intuitions about ‘evil’ human qualities (such as cruelty, deception, or megalomania) also often reflect aspects of absolutisation in human judgement. However, we also have a strong tendency to absolutise and project evil, to ‘demonise’ other people or things by treating them as wholly evil, when they are complex. To practise the Middle Way in relation to evil, we need to try to distinguish what is actually a threat to us from the things or people that we may unthinkingly label as ‘evil’.

There’ll be a short talk on this topic, followed by questions, then discussion in regionalised breakout groups. Some other regionalised groups will meet at other times. If you’re interested in joining us but are not already part of the Network, please see the general Network page to sign up. To catch up on the previous session, on responsibility, please see this post. If you would like catch up more with more basic aspects of the Middle Way approach, we are also holding a reading group on 29th Nov which will do this – please contact Jim (at) middlewaysociety.org if you want to join this.

Here is the video from the session:

Suggested reflection questions

  1. What sorts of things or people do you tend to feel are ‘evil’? To what extent do you think you are justified?
  2. Is it possible to identify evil judgements in a person rather than evil character?

Suggested further reading

Middle Way Philosophy 4: The Integration of Belief, 3.n (see pdf of Omnibus edition on Researchgate)

Red Book, Middle Way section 6: ‘Integrating the Shadow’

Blog post ‘What is Evil?’

Stephen Batchelor: Living with the Devil

Network Stimulus: Ethics 1 – Feeling Responsible

Ethics, Middle Way Philosophy, Network Stimulus

The next main meeting of the Middle Way Network will be at 7pm UK time on Sunday 8th November. This will start off our new series of topics, on the Middle Way applied to ethics and politics, with the topic ‘Feeling Responsible’. The practice of the Middle Way is closely related to developing our sense of responsibility, but it’s important to distinguish this from the social institution of holding people responsible. The latter has an important role in society, but it is easy to treat it absolutely by applying the assumptions of total freewill or determinism, and thus interfere with the actual development of felt responsibility.

There’ll be a short talk on this topic, followed by questions, then discussion in regionalised breakout groups. Some other regionalised groups will meet at other times. If you’re interested in joining us but are not already part of the Network, please see the general Network page to sign up. To catch up on the previous session, on integration of belief, please see this post. If you would like catch up more with more basic aspects of the Middle Way approach, we are also holding a reading group on 15th Nov which will do this – please contact Jim (at) middlewaysociety.org if you want to join this.

There is already a video on responsibility which will be embedded below, and you might like to watch either before the session or afterwards for further background:

Here is the video of the actual talk and Q&A on the Network session:

Some suggested reflection questions:

  1. What are some examples of things you feel responsible for, and how do you relate to that sense of responsibility?
  2. Are there any things on the edge of your sense of responsibility, where you feel you could helpfully stretch that sense a little?
  3. What conditions or practices do you think have helped you develop your sense of responsibility in the past?
  4. Are there some things you definitely don’t feel responsible for, or even perhaps that it’s a bad idea to feel responsible for?

Suggested further reading

Truth on the Edge ch.4 ‘Maximising Responsibility’

Middle Way Philosophy 1: 7b ‘Responsibility’ (see Researchgate for the full text on pdf as part of the Omnibus Edition)